EPA nominee Jackson vows to take agency in new direction

WASHINGTON -- Lisa Jackson's nomination to become the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency appeared headed toward confirmation today as a Senate panel began considering President-elect Barak Obama's choice for the nation's top environmental post.

The former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and current chief of staff to Gov. John Corzine received a warm welcome from members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and there was bipartisan support for the nomination. A vote could come any time after Obama's inauguration on Tuesday.

AP Photo/Lauren Victoria BurkeEPA Administrator-designate Lisa Jackson, center, flanked by Sen. Robert Menendez, (D-N.J.), left, and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair-designate Nancy Sutley, is introduced during her nomination hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Polled outside the hearing room, the panel's two top ranking Republicans, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, said they expected Jackson's nomination to clear the committee: "I think she will be confirmed, yes," Voinovich said

"There are always going to be questions raised with anyone who has been around as long as she has, but with her the positives are overwhelming. She will be confirmed, no doubt," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), a member of panel who introduced Jackson during today's session.

"I come to this moment ready, able and eager to serve our country and the president-elect and mindful of the awesome responsibility of protecting health and the environment," Jackson told the panel.

"These five problems are tough, but so is our resolve to conquer them. Knowing the bright minds at EPA and the determination and spirit of the American people, we will," Jackson said.

She also said the agency will revive a long stalled recommendation that it examine the nation's coal ash disposal sites, after a pair of spills in Alabama and Tennessee that released millions of gallons of toxic sludge into the environment. The sites are used to store waste from coal-burning power plants and are subject to state, rather than federal, regulations.

Like all EPA decisions, Jackson said, the issue should be examined on science alone, independent of political factors.

"If I am confirmed, political appointees will not compromise the integrity of EPA's technical experts to advance particular regulatory outcomes," said Jackson, a Princeton educated chemical and environmental engineer. "Science must be the backbone of what EPA does."

Critics have long complained political considerations, particularly the interests of industry, have trumped environmental factors at EPA during the Bush administration.

Senators from both parties were warm in welcoming Jackson, their questions aimed more at Obama's environmental policies than at her record. Republicans expressed concern the new administration might champion tough environmental regulations at the expense of industry and economy.

"We support protecting the environment, but also support protecting the family budget," said Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.). "We are potentially looking at a devastating depression, we can't support plans that raise the price of gasoline."

"I have serious concerns about the timing and troubling implications that further regulation could have on our already fragile economy. Those concerns are shared by many across the country," he said.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who joined in introducing Jackson to the panel, said she will bring a measure of New Jersey toughness to the job. Invoking the motto "New Jersey, only the strong survive," Menendez said "Lisa Jackson has not only survived, she has thrived."

Jackson, 46, would be the EPA's 12th administrator, its first African-American woman administrator and the second New Jersey official to assume the post, following the stormy 2½-year tenure of former Republican Gov. Christie Whitman at the beginning of the first Bush administration.

She would replace Stephen Johnson, a 27-year agency veteran who, despite his credentials as a career scientist and federal regulator, has been criticized by environmentalists for pursuing White House goals on climate change and other issues.

Jackson, meanwhile, enjoys the backing of major environmental groups.

"We believe Lisa Jackson has been our one true friend in this (state) administration and has worked diligently to protect the environment for all of New Jersey," said Jeff Tittel, the Sierra Club's state director.

Also backing her today were representatives of New Jersey's Ramapough Mountain community who have lived near a Superfund site in Ringwood, Passaic County, for years.

"She came and saw our problem, then she didn't just turn her back on us when she went back to Trenton. She supported us, so we're here to support her," said Vivian Milligan, one of the representatives.

Jackson, a resident of East Windsor, brings to the job a resume that includes 20 years as an environmental regular, including 16 years at EPA and nearly three years with the state DEP.

She initially joined Corzine in backing Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, but joined the Obama team as part of his energy and natural resources transit team after the election.